Birding My Way ~ Indianapolis to Joplin, Missouri ~ May 13

First thing, DHC took me to a wee city "glade" and we spent 15 minutes looking for migrants. This is one of those small green spaces (not even a park) that one can find in nearly all cities. We walked through the dewy grass and peered up at the tops of the tall hardwoods. That's what birders do this time of year. Deborah spotted the first twitches and then slowly we saw several more. Warblers never sit still and can be spotted by their movements. If they were sedentary, sightings would be 95% more difficult. Of course, their are two problems: one gets "warbler neck" quickly, and the birds often flit about just at the edge of binocular range making ID tricky. Oh, a third thing: there are more and more leaves behind which they disappear as spring migration progresses. But we identified yellow-rumped warblers and a single black-headed green warbler. If anyone is interested, google this bird to see how lovely it is. Almost all the 40+ warblers one can see in the US are bright and lavish in their breeding plumages. Deborah also thought she saw a pine warbler. But we didn't linger as she had to be at school at 8 a.m.

I drove all day. It went from 37 degrees to 80. I stopped once in tiny Pocahontas, Illinois, to get some cheese. I found a city park near a pond and just past Bird street, settled in for half an hour watching the tree tops and pond, but it was mid day and there were few birds except robins and blue-jays. I checked email, discovered I could work so made a reservation for lodging, and drove on and on and on. I am staying on the interstates as long as I can stand it so shared the road with semis, slowing down for miles of construction in western Illinois.

Very near St. Louis, in heavy traffic, I came on a large piece of blown tire in my lane and had to just go for it since there was no chance to swerve on such short notice. Fortunately, nothing happened and even the under-the-car noise wasn't as bad as I thought it would be.

On across Missouri which was like driving through southern Michigan countryside. It was a day of soaring turkey vultures, always in a dihedral, and little else. I did see a few hawks but interstate traveling isn't conducive to quick shoulder pull-offs. I thought of Steve and Andree as I went through St. Louis, the beautiful and impressive silver arch to my right along the river.

I tried a new McDonald's wrap: a chicken ranch sandwich which was huge! It tasted OK and had grilled chicken, tomatoes, lettuce, a little cheese and cucumbers, but was way too big. What is it with super-sizing food items? Also had a gooey but delicious iced mocha as I was getting sleepy. This, too, had an added mound of whipped cream and chocolate drizzle. Like sugary mocha wasn't enough.

Besides the turkey vultures in the sky, my other birds of the day were northern mockingbirds which serenaded me for hours as I worked with the door open in the motel. They sing so many different melodious sounds, I initially thought there were at least two to three other species hanging about.

At one point I was looking across the parking lot to a brushy wild-looking border and saw a large feline, moving along in the cool, bluesy way cats do. I first thought bobcat but checked and found bobcats have "bobbed" tails and this one had a long striped tail and sort of stripey legs and faint vertical stripes on its flanks. It was way big for a house cat. Any ideas???? It moseyed along and disapperaed into the green.

I worked until midnight, slept 5 hours and got up to enjoy the delicious early morning hours. I knew there was a Starbucks nearby and asked directions from the motel clerk as there is a lot of construction in the area. He told me how I could get to it by parking lot driving...which I did and which is where I am typing this.

But, I now am ready to leave....on through Tulsa, generally heading west and south toward Albuquerque, although I think I will be somewhere in Texas tonight...